Military vehicles often have specially designed ammunition compartments that limit vehicle damage and crew casualties if the compartment is hit by enemy fire. For example, the turret bustle of the U.S. Army's Ml Abrams tank has such an ammunition compartment. Strong, heavily reinforced blast doors separate the compartment from the rest of the turret and the compartment has a panel designed to blow off to vent an explosion. The blast doors are able to resist the vented explosion force and therefore shield the crew and the remainder of the vehicle.
However, at least two problems remain with known blast door designs. First, the force of the explosion, even though vented, bows the doors in toward the crew compartment. The doors then rebound, bowing back into the ammunition compartment, thereby unsealing the doors from the door frame. The unsealing allows flames and gas from the explosion to enter the crew area of the turret, possibly harming the soldiers there. Second, a post explosion danger exists if the blast doors insufficiently seal against chemical or biological antipersonnel agents, which may surround the tank in a foreseeable battle scene.